Easily Disposable

Another rejection came in, but since the agents at Curtis Brown did not ask for more, more, more a couple of months ago, I figured that the partial manuscript was dead in the water. It took them three months to make up their minds that the sparkling prose, polished to a high sheen, was not telling the story in the way that they liked.

Sure enough, a request for a partial came in on the same day as the rejection. Funny how this has happened a couple of times. I guess the agents phone one another, to coordinate the submission rejection cycle just to mess with our heads. They're a clever lot, those agents in NYC.

This particular submission, however, has a sort of 'easily disposable' quality to it. I don't know if it's a new trend, or a way to save on paper clutter, but the agent asked for a partial to be sent as an e-mail. Now, the same agent does not accept e-mail queries, which is not unusual, and she asked for the partial via e-mail, which is rather common. But to submit the partial electronically, no paper, no ink, no charge, lacks the substance I need for confidence.

It's happened before to me, and I fear the same again. I have three partials that were sent as e-mail attachments, all according to the agent's request. But without that SASE wagging under their nose to remind them that someone is waiting for an answer, they treat the submission as if it were another e-mail. Read the first few pages, and if it doesn't grab, that's the end of it. Just like the e-query, the lack of response becomes the not for us response.

The agent is saved the problem of stacks of manuscripts cluttering the office, and they don't even have to shove a rejection letter into an envelope. No muss, no fuss, just use and toss. And there you are, heart in a flutter, waiting to hear. Did the file download and open? Did they read it at all? Did they even get it?

The file's been sent and I'll not think of it again. I'll keep sending out queries, and enjoy the rush of popping fifty pages into a Priority Mail envelope, affixing the Priority Mail stamp, and slapping on the Delivery Confirmation. Seems so much more real when it's in your hand than when it's on the screen.